Today, Schwäbisch Hall is best known in Germany as the headquarters of the Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, a building society of the same name. However, this former imperial city owed its extraordinary prosperity in the Middle Ages and early modern period to a salt spring, which turned the town into a major centre for the salt trade and salt production. The medieval and early modern old town still bears witness to this economic boom. The town also gained fame through the so-called Heller (also known as the Haller), a coin of relatively low monetary value which, for that very reason, was widely used in southern Germany and was at times even minted directly in the town during the Middle Ages.

The town also gained recognition through the so-called Heller (also known as the Haller), a coin of relatively low monetary value which, precisely for this reason, was widely used in the southern German region and was at times also minted directly in the town during the Middle Ages.

In 1525, the council of the Imperial City appointed Johannes Brenz (1499–1570) as preacher at the Church of St. Michael. Over the course of around two decades, he shaped the introduction of the Reformation in Schwäbisch Hall. As early as his student years, Brenz had met Martin Luther at the Heidelberg Disputation in 1518 and was, at the latest by that time, convinced of the new teaching.

Together with the council, Brenz supported the introduction of Luther’s doctrine in the city and, for example, advocated leniency toward the peasants during the so-called Peasants’ War of 1525. As in other territories, under Brenz’s leadership the school system and poor relief in Schwäbisch Hall were also reformed. In accordance with the understanding of the “priesthood of all believers” propagated by Luther, children from poorer backgrounds were to receive at least a basic education. This initiative was supported by three catechisms written by Brenz, which appeared in more than five hundred copies in total.

Beyond the city limits of Schwäbisch Hall, Brenz also contributed to the spread of Martin Luther’s doctrine. He served as an expert and advisor within the Empire and took part in numerous religious colloquies, including the one in Marburg in 1529. When Brenz was forced to flee Schwäbisch Hall in 1548 following the Protestant defeat in the Schmalkaldic War, he was commissioned by Duke Christoph with reorganising the church structure in the Protestant Duchy of Württemberg. Until his death in 1570, Brenz worked primarily in the Duchy of Württemberg. His work, which he had begun in Schwäbisch Hall, continued permanently in the now Protestant Imperial City.

In Schwäbisch Hall, Johannes Brenz is commemorated today, among other places, by the Brenz House with a bust of the Reformer. St. Michael’s Church, where Brenz worked, is now part of the European Heritage Label. The City and Hospital Archive on the market square holds a unique collection of Reformation-era documents.

In the Johanniterkirche, which presents parts of the Würth Art Collection, visitors can see, alongside the well-known “Madonna of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen” (also known as Darmstadt Madonna) by Hans Holbein the Younger (1526), paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, a supporter of Luther, as well as other works from the Upper German Reformation.

Visitors interested in modern art also find much to enjoy at the Kunsthalle Würth. The salt spring in Schwäbisch Hall is no longer used for salt production; today it supplies a popular brine bath.

Links

City of Schwäbisch Hall www.schwaebischhall.de/en/
Tourist Office www.schwaebischhall.de/en/tourism.html
Municipal Archive: https://www.schwaebischhall.de/de/bildung-betreuung/stadt-und-hospitalarchiv/unser-angebot-fuer-sie
Evangelical Church District of Schwäbisch Hall www.schwaebischhall-evangelisch.de/
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg www.elk-wue.de/landeskirche/international-information-en/